Choosing complimentary markets also is vital for owners who manage their own properties. When Doug Eisenberg, president of Urban American, looks to expand, he’s interested in markets that share similarities with his native city, New York. As a result, his firm, an owner and manager of 12,000 units in New York, is looking to enter high barrier-to-entry markets. “We’ll find markets that resemble the geographic areas that we’ve invested in to date—urban with dense populations, good school systems, good public transit, and good access to retail,” he says. “If we can find communities that resemble those where we’ve had success, we’ll be looking to invest there.”
5. Staff your properties wisely.
You decided to make the plunge. Now, it’s time to staff your new assets. When Fogelman Management Group moved into San Antonio and Colorado Springs, Colo., Fogelman knew he couldn’t rely on market outsiders to operate his properties. He needed people well-versed in the laws, customs, and rental tastes of those specific areas.
“When you go into a new market, you have to attract quality people,” he says. “When you’re new, it’s hard to do that if people don’t know your company. They don’t know what kind of career path there is and don’t know about the stability of your company.”
Other apartment executives agree that you need local expertise, but some firms like to start out with familiar talent. “We brought 14 people with us from Arizona, instead of initially hiring local people, and now we can expand and hire locals,” says Mark-Taylor’s Danuser.
Eisenberg of Urban American also thinks local when he staffs his newly-acquired assets. “We’re looking for a local operator who knows the lay of the land and will be an employee of our firm,” he says. “They will spend time with us at our headquarters learning how we conduct our business and learning about those things that are important to us.”
